The most recent annual report of the Public Health Wales Child Measurement Programme shows that the number of children aged 4-5 years who were of a healthy weight is now higher than before the pandemic, with 73.5 per cent of children being in that category. 

This year’s results, from the 2023-24 academic year, also showed a statistically significant difference between rural and urban areas, with 26.8 per cent of children in rural areas living with overweight or obesity, compared to 25.0 per cent in urban areas. 

Once again there is a correlation between levels of obesity and deprivation across Wales, with children living in those areas which are designated as the ‘most deprived fifth’ of the country most likely to be living with overweight or obesity, and those residing in the least deprived fifth least likely.  At Local Authority level the proportion of children having obesity ranged from 9.0 per cent in Monmouthshire to 14.1 per cent in Carmarthenshire. 

The Child Measurement Programme is a national surveillance programme which examines height and weight data annually collected from children in Reception classes across Wales.  The purpose of the report is to deliver data about how children are growing so that NHS Wales can better plan and deliver health services on national, health board, and local authority levels.  The programme is coordinated by Public Health Wales and delivered by school nursing teams from each of the seven health boards.  

For Wales overall, there was a return to pre-pandemic levels of participation, with more than 93 per cent of children being part of the programme. 

The proportion of children with obesity in Wales (11.8 per cent) was higher than that reported for England or Scotland.   

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